The Sunday Mail
Tendai Chara
As sub-Saharan Africa grapples with energy poverty, players in the energy sector maintain that the future lies in renewable energy and renewable energy-related technologies.
Energy poverty refers to a situation in which the well-being of large numbers of people, mostly in developing countries, is negatively affected by very low consumption of energy.
The use of dirty or polluting fuels and spending excessive time collecting fuel to meet basic needs are some of the key features of energy poverty.
According to the United Nations, two out of every three people in sub-Saharan Africa are without access to electricity. The unavailability of electricity is slowing down economic development in the region.
Globally, around 16 percent of the world’s population, about 1,2 billion people, have no access to electricity.
The lack of electricity in Africa remains one of the biggest barriers to the region’s development and prosperity.As a result of energy poverty, millions of people remain trapped in extreme poverty.Renewable energy experts recently converged in Harare, with calls for locals to adopt and invest in clean renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and thermal coming up as the major highlights.
The meeting came at a time when the United Nations is working towards achieving universal energy access for all before 2030.
Such international players as the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development recently unveiled Energy Africa, an initiative to accelerate renewable energy access in Africa.Experts argue that Zimbabweans must move with the times and adopt renewable energy technologies for lighting, heating, cooking and irrigation, among other uses.
Mr Godfrey Sibanda of Practical Action, an organisation that implements renewable energy projects, said the availability of renewable energy spurs economic and social development.
“The setting up of renewable energy projects increases commercial activities. We witnessed an upsurge in commercial activities at Chipendeke in the Eastern Highlands and in Gwanda where we set-up mini-hydro and solar projects respectively,” Mr Sibanda said.
According to Mr Sibanda, the Chipendeke business centre is now a hive of economic activity following the commissioning of the plant.
“Women’s projects are thriving, a grinding mill has since been installed and before that, the villagers used to travel close to 20 kilometres to the nearest business centre. Carpentry and welding projects have also been set,” Mr Sibanda said.
The Chipendeke mini-hydro station produces 24 kilowatts a day and the electricity is used by the local community.Energy poverty directly affects women and the girl child.
Mr Wellington Madumira, a project officer with the Zero Environmental Organisation, said the unavailability of renewable resources adversely affects women and the girl child, who spend the most time near the domestic hearth.“Research has shown that some bad cooking and heating practices result in indoor household air pollution. Excessive heat and smoke produces damaging pollutants such carbon monoxide, resulting in diseases,” Mr Madumira said.According to the World Health Organisation, around three billion people cook and heat their homes using solid fuels such as wood, charcoal, coal and dung on open fires or traditional stoves.
Exposure is particularly high among women and young children.
According to WHO; 4,3 million people die annually from the exposure to household air pollution.
Furthermore, a study by WHO says close to 85 percent of the two million deaths in 2009 were directly linked to indoor pollution. Some cancers and respiratory diseases were directly linked to indoor air pollution.Figures release by WHO states that air pollution claimed seven million lives around the world in 2012.More than one-third of those deaths, the organisation said, occurred in fast-developing nations of Asia, where rates of cardiovascular and pulmonary disease have been soaring.
Around the world, one out of every eight deaths was tied to dirty air, the agency determined – twice as many as previously estimated.
Its report identified air pollution as the world’s single biggest environmental health risk.
Local energy experts are calling for the adoption of clean and efficient household cooking solutions, which will help dramatically reduce fuel consumption and household exposure to smoke.Renewable energy technologies can solve lighting problems as solar lighting systems make it possible for communities to read and write at night.
Solar systems can also charge phones and make it possible for people without electricity to use radios and television sets. Renewable energy technologies also make it possible for farmers to irrigate their crops
Government, through the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, is developing and promoting the use of renewable energy sources in many ways.The National Energy Policy promotes the uptake of renewable energy resources in the country with the Electricity Act making a provision for Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to participate in electricity generation.
The Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-economic Transformation (ZimAsset) also promotes increased uptake of renewable energy with energy falling under the lnfrastructure and Utilities cluster. The Rural Electrification Act (2002), the National Energy policy of 2012 and the Renewable Energy Act of 2011, which resulted in the establishment of the Zimbabwe Energy Regulation Authority (Zera), were incorporated to encourage the movement towards renewable energy sources.
Speaking on the role of the media in renewable energy promotion in Zimbabwe, Mr Johnson Siamachira, a development communications specialist, said the reportage of renewable energy is very low in Zimbabwe.
“In my view, the focus is mostly on politics and economics, among other areas. Issues to do with renewable energy are rarely covered. This must change since we are clearly moving towards total dependence on renewable sources,” Mr Siamachira said.
